Bring Back the Soldiers
by Rashalla Entalio
Summary: “If one man can change history, if one bullet can change the world- What happens when that one man takes that one shot?” An alternate ending to Endless Waltz that follows the Gundam pilots through a second war and beyond. Eventual shounen-ai 1 2,3 4,5 ?


  
Written by Rashalla Entalio and Kiscico

E-mail Rasha at or Kiscico at

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Working Title: Bring Back the Soldiers

**Rating**: Teen, for moderate violence and some romance

**Pairings**: 12, 34, 56... but not for a while and not in the teaser

**Summary**: "If one man can change history, if one bullet can change the world... What would have happened if that one man had shot that one bullet?" An alternate ending to Endless Waltz

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the associated terms, characters or places. This was written for personal use and was not intended as copyright infringement. The within plotline is mine. This story may be archived and downloaded only with the author's explicit permission. Don't steal, don't sue and every one goes home happy.

**Warnings**: Same amount of violence as the show, nothing too explicit, but it is implied. Shounen ai in later chapters.

NOTE: Everything in the series and Endless Waltz has happened up until Wing Zero arrives.

1 Ok, I'm not sure if this is how the Zero System works, but oh well, considering that this is the only reason I have any semblance of a plot.

2 This is referring to the song that is played at the end of the Endless Waltz movie. It's mostly in Japanese with the occasional "I believe in your dreams" and a "so far away" or two.

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Teaser for "Bring Back the Soldiers"Not So Happily Ever After

"If one man can change history, if one bullet can change the world… What would have happened if that one man had taken that one shot?"

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The remaining Gundam pilots, Quatre, Duo, and Trowa, were waiting, trying to discern what their fate would be when Sandrock alerted them all to another mobile suit, another Gundam.

"Where?" Trowa asked, glancing around.

"Above us," Duo replied in shock.

"Wing Zero…" The name was whispered reverently; like a prayer, it fell from hopeful lips.

\\

"Locked onto the target," Heero stated nonchalantly as he aimed at the Brussels' Presidential Mansion. Sending a message to the Mansion, he addressed Dekim Barton.

"Let me confirm: Your shelter shield is activated?"

Dekim sneered. "What are you planning?"

Heero remained seemingly indifferent and asked again, "Your shelter is secure, is it?"

"Of course it is. See for yourself, just how powerless you are." Mariemaia, the girl-puppet replied haughtily, expecting Heero to be intimidated with her cool, casual reply. What Mariemaia didn't know was that Heero was the master of cool and casual.

"Roger that."

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Heero aimed and fired. Another quake shook the Presidential Mansion, rocks cascading around Relena and Mariemaia as the lights flickered. Dekim's soldiers began to panic as Heero, again, aimed and fired, accurate to one hundredth of a unit, as one nameless soldier announced to his superior, Dekim. The soldier continued, bringing only more dire news to Mariemaia Army's leader.

"This shelter will collapse for certain if it's hit again in the same place."

Dekim ordered his Serpents to "bring down Wing Zero!" The Serpents converged on Zero as Heero prepared to fire the final shot. At the last moment, an ordinary soldier in an ordinary Serpent fired. At the last moment, when Heero was too caught up in Zero's visions of victory 1, a nameless soldier changed history. A shot was fired and Zero's buster rifle was sent off course. Not by much, but enough to stop the Presidential Mansion from collapsing.

As Heero watched, shocked, as a part of the city began to burn, he realized that he had failed. Wing Zero could not stand up to the stress on its structure and began to rip a part, piece by piece.

The other pilots and the common people watched in stunned silence as the hope for mankind, Heero Yuy, encased in a battered Wing Zero, fell hopelessly to the ground.

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There were no yells from the people declaring boldly that they would fight. They had just witnessed what happened to those who fought against their new Queen, Mariemaia. However emboldened the people may have become due to Dorothy Catalonia's provocative words, was now useless, their morale lowering in defeat. If a Gundam pilot couldn't succeed, then what chance was there for a civilian?

Wufei, just showing up in time to see a battered Wing Zero fall to the beaten and burning earth, sighed in resignation.

"Treize, I guess our battle isn't quite over yet…"

\\

Duo watched as Wing Zero hit the ground in defeat and failure.

If life had a soundtrack, the current song, Duo decided, would not be a light Japanese soprano singing of love and victory, like it should have been 2; it would be something slow and mournful, something that reflected on the feelings of the people and of the pilots.

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There was a moment of stunned silence and then the world erupted into a cacophony of sounds.

Morbidly, Duo thought about how the screams, the crackling of flames, and the slow, heavy breathing of countless soldiers combined and melded into an oddly rhythmic melody. 'I guess what was originally supposed to be a short "go-and-get" mission has turned into another all-out, hopeless war.'

Duo chuckled mirthlessly and announced, "I'm damn glad you caught up with our Gundams, Q, 'cause I don't think we're rid of them yet."

"Your ability to make light of a situation will never cease to amaze me, Maxwell," a voice said over the linked Gundam COM units.

"Wufei! Is that really you," Duo asked uncertainly.

"Finally come to your senses, Chang?" Trowa asked softly.

"Wing Zero and her pilot convinced me on a few topics," was the equally soft reply.

"Then maybe, Wufei, you need to return the favor and convince Heero that he'll only truly fail if he gives up," Quatre suggested.

"Hey, Q-man, I hate to be the devil's advocate but do you know what the chances of Heero actually being alive are?" said Duo.

"Next to impossible, Duo, but that's enough for Heero. That's enough." was Quatre's confident response.

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NOTE from Rasha: This was originally just meant as a teaser, written by Kiscico, he and I are now working on planning out and writing the rest of the fic. Any thoughts are welcome, especially if you have a loose plot bunny.

NOTE from Kiscico: This whole plot idea came from watching my Endless Waltz DVD a few too many times. (To the point where I picked up every humorous comment Trowa made, never mind that it was so dry that it might as well have been suffering from dehydration.) As Rasha said, we would appreciate any ideas on this fic- even if you think we should delete it from our hard drives and never write again- we're looking for any kind of feedback.


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